New Zealand blank Pakistan 5-0 in ODI series

After winning the toss and batting first, opening batsman Martin Guptill (100) scored his 13th century in the ODIs to guide New Zealand to 271 for seven in 50 overs.

Guptill shared a 112-run for the third wicket with former captain Ross Taylor (59), who registered his 42nd fifty.

Guptill got handy support from Colin Munro (34) and Kane Williamson (22). Colin de Grandhomme contributed 29 runs.

Left-arm medium pacer Rumman Raees was the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan, picking three wickets for 67. Fellow medium pacer Faheem Ashraf bagged two wickets for 49 runs.

In reply, Pakistan seemed to have lost the battle when they were reduced to 57/5 in 17 overs after pacer Matt Henry removed top three batsmen Fakhar Zaman (12), Umar Amin (2) and Babar Azam (10).

Mohammed Hafeez (6) and Sarfraz Ahmed (3) fell to Lockie Ferguson and de Grandhomme respectively.

Haris Sohail (63) and Shadab Khan (54) put on 105 for the sixth wicket to give Pakistan a chance. Left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner broke the stand by getting rid of Sohail, who was caught by Henry at long-on, with the visitors at 162/6 in 37.2 overs.

Sohail’s 63 came off 87 balls and included five fours.

Santner then sent back Shadab caught at short third man for a 77-ball 54, with five fours.

Later, Fahim Ashraf (23 off 15 balls)), Aamer Yamin (32 not out off 27) and Mohammad waz (23 off 12)) did their best to keep the flagging Pakistan hopes of a consolation win going. In the end, Pakistan were bowled out for 256 in 49 overs.

Henry picked up his fourth wicket in the form of Raees (5) to finish with 4 for 53. Ashraf was accounted by Santner and waz was dismissed by Ferguson.

Pakistan captain Sarfraz blamed the batsmen for the defeat and poor show in the series.

“New Zealand are a very good team, they played well throughout the series. The main thing was batting, that’s why we lost the series. The bowling unit were very good. Sometimes we had opportunities but we didn’t grab them,” Sarfraz was quoted as saying by Intertiol Cricket Council (ICC)’s website.

“We back our team. And there are some positive things. The lower order played very well, Fahim, Aamer Yamin, waz. One very positive sign is our youngsters batting very well.”

Brief scores: New Zealand: 271/7 in 50 overs (Martin Guptill 100, Ross Taylor 59; Rumman Raees 3/67, Faheem Ashraf 2/49) vs Pakistan: 256 all out in 49 overs (Haris Sohail 63, Shadab Khan 54; Matt Henry 4/53, Mitchell Santner 3/40). IANS